Lever-type connector

Abstract: In a pair of lever-type connectors, a U-shaped lever (17) including a pair of cam portions (22) is rotatably provided in one of connector housings of connectors to be connected to each other in such a manner that the lever straddles the connector housing, a pair of cam receive portions (13) respectively engageable with the cam portions (22) are provided in the other connector housing, and by rotating the lever reciprocatingly, the cam receive portion (13) are shifted so as to connect or disconnect the two connectors to and from each other. The lever-type connector comprises a pair of lever support shafts (16) provided on and projected from one of the one connector housing and the lever, a pair of bearing hole portions (24) respectively formed in the other of the one connector housing and the lever and engageable with the lever support shafts (16); a pair of removal preventive portions (30) formed in one of the lever support shafts and the bearing hole portions and projecting in the diameter direction of one of the lever support shafts (16) and the bearing hole portions (24); and a pair of engaging surfaces (34) respectively provided in the other of the lever support shafts (16) and the bearing hole portions (24), engageable with the removal preventive portions (30) during the reciprocating rotational movement of the lever, and notched (32) partially to allow the removal preventive portions (30) to be inserted thereinto or removed therefrom at the disconnected position of the lever.

Description: The present invention relates to a lever support structure for a lever-operated connector, the connector housings thereof can be connected by use of the leverage of a lever. A lever-operated connector is advantageous in that the connection and removal of the connector housings thereof can be executed with a small force and, especially, it is often applied to a multipole connector which has 20 poles or more. The basic principle of the lever-operated connector utilizes the leverage action of a lever and, as a structure for the lever-operated connector, for example, there is known such a structure as shown in Fig. 4. Such a known lever-operated connector is common knowledge for an expert in the art of lever-operated connectors. On the left in Fig. 4, there is shown a female connector housing 1 which stores therein a large number of female terminals (not shown), while on the right there is shown a male connector housing 2 which stores therein a large number of male terminals and includes a hood portion 2a for receiving the female connector housing 1. While cam receive pins 3 are respectively provided on the right and left side wall portions of the female connector housing 1, on the right and left side walls of a hood portion 2a of the male connector housing 2, there are formed slits 4 respectively for receiving the cam receive pins 3. Also, a U-shaped lever 5 is rotatably mounted to the male connector housing 2. A structure for mounting the lever 5 to the male connector housing 2 is arranged such that a pair of lever support shafts 2b are projected from the right and left wall portions of the male connector housing 2, two circular bearing holes 5a are respectively formed in the right and left side portions of the lever 5 and, as shown in Fig. 4, the lever support shafts 2b are inserted through the two bearing holes 5a of the lever 5, respectively. On the back surface of the lever 5, there are formed two cam grooves 6 which are respectively engageable with the cam receive pins 3. The cam grooves 6 are connected in communication with slits 4 when the lever 5 is held at such position as shown in Fig. 4. If the female connector housing 1 is inserted into the hood portion 2a of the male connector housing 2 and the lever 5 is rotated in a direction of an arrow shown in Fig. 4, then the cam grooves 6 of the lever 5 allow the cam receive pins 3 and thus the female connector housing 1 to advance deeply into the hood portion 2a of the male connector housing 2, which completes the connection between the male and female connector housings. Now, in the process that the female connector housing 1 is moved into the hood portion 2a by turning the lever 5, due to the mutual fitting between the male and female terminals (not shown), an insertion load is applied to the operation of the lever 5. The insertion load increases as the turn of the lever 5 advances. The operation force necessary to push the operation portion 5b of the lever 5 is increased in opposition to the increase in the insertion load. The increased operation force causes the operation portion 5b of the lever 5 to be flexed in a recessed manner, so that the arms 5c of the lever 5 are respectively extended outwardly. If the arms 5c are extended outwardly too much, then the arms 5c can be removed out of the lever support shaft 2b. As a countermeasure against such removal of the arms 5c, for example, there is known a technique in which a pair of right and left guide walls 7 are provided in the lower portion of the lever 5 of the male connector housing 2 so as to prevent the arms 5c from being widened outwardly when the lever is turned. However, in the technique using the guide walls 7, since the width of the male connector housing 2 is increased by the widths of the guide walls 7, the whole structure of the connector housing becomes large in size. Also, there is available a technique in which removal preventive washers are respectively mounted on the ends of the lever support shafts 2b. However, this technique increases the number of parts and also worsens the connector assembling operationability. From DE-C-42 07 565 there is known an apparatus for connecting two members (e.g. housings) by means of a lever means. The lever support shaft at one of the members is comprised of a cylindrical stud having a plurality of radially extending projections at its free end. Said projections must be brought into registry with respective cutouts in a lever bearing hole provided in the lever means. If projections and cutouts are in registry, the lever means can be attached to or detached from the lever support shaft, respectively. As the projections and thus the cutouts are arranged in specific angular positions to each other, they provide a kind of keying or coding mechanism for avoiding wrong attachment of the lever means. In use, i.e. during rotation of the lever means, the projections act also as a kind of removal preventive washers. Furthermore, in case of DE-C-42 07 565 the lever means is constituted by two individual levers, that is, by levers being not connected at their free ends by an operation portion to define a U-shaped lever as in case of the connector shown in Fig. 4. In view of the above-mentioned conventional connectors, it is an object of the invention to provide a lever-operated connector which suitably prevents a lever from being removed from a connector housing by means of a simple structure. In attaining the above object, according to the invention, there is provided a lever-operated connector comprising: first and second connector housings to be connected with each other; lever means including two cam portions, said lever means being rotatably mounted on said first connector housing in such a manner that said lever means straddles said first connector housing, wherein: two cam receive portions respectively engageable with said two cam portions of said lever means are provided on said second connector housing, and, by rotating said lever means reciprocatingly, said cam receive portions being shifted so as to connect or disconnect said first and second connector housings to and from each other; a pair of lever support shafts are respectively provided on and projected from said first connector housing; and a pair of bearing hole portions are respectively formed in said lever means and are engageable with said lever support shafts. According to the present invention, this lever-operated connector is furthermore characterized in that removal preventive portions are formed in said bearing hole portions projecting towards the inside of said bearing hole portions; wherein the central portion of each of said lever support shafts is shaved over the whole periphery thereof to form a reduced diameter portion constituting an engaging surface engageable with said removal preventive portion during the reciprocating rotational movement of said lever means. Preferably, each of the outer portion of said lever support shafts includes a notch groove which is formed in the diameter direction thereof, wherein the depth of said notch grooves are so set that the bottom of said notch groove is level with the outside diameter of said reduced diameter portion, and wherein the length of each of said lever support shafts is so set that the outer portion thereof projects externally of said lever means. Moreover, preferably said notch grooves are set so in the outer portion of said lever support shafts that insertion of said removal preventive portions thereinto or removal therefrom is possible at the disconnected position of said lever means. According to the above structure, when the lever means is mounted on the connector housing, the arms of the lever means are positioned at the disconnected position of the two connector housings and then the removal preventive portions provided in the bearing hole portions are inserted into the notch grooves at the outer portion of the lever support shafts. When the lever means (lever arms) is (are) operated in order to connect the two connector housings to each other, the lever means is rotated from the disconnected position toward the connected position of the two connector housings. In doing so, with the connection of the two connector housings, the lever means is given an operation force in opposition to an insertion load acting on the lever means, so that the lever arms are flexed. However, even if the lever arms are thus flexed to produce a force which acts in a direction to separate the lever support shafts and bearing hole portions from each other, the removal preventive portions are engaged with the engaging surfaces to thereby be able to prevent the lever support shafts and bearing hole portions from separating from each other. As the removal preventive portions are arranged inside the bearing hole portions and upon operation of the lever means are encased in said shaved central portions of the lever support shafts, there is no danger that the removal preventive portions are flexed, damaged or broken during transport or use of the connector. As has been described heretofore, according to the invention, without increasing the size of the connector housings or increasing the number of parts and the working man-hours, not only the mechanical strength of the lever means can be maintained by maintaing the operation portion connecting the free ends of the lever arms, but also the lever means can be prevented from being removed from the connector housing due to an operation force applied to the lever means in opposition to an insertion load. The following is a more detailed explanation of the invention, which is to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a lever-operated connector according to the invention, when the male and female connector housings thereof are separated from each other; Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a lever support shaft; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a bearing hole; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional lever-type connector. On the left in Fig. 1, there is shown a female connector housing 11 which stores therein female terminals (not shown), while on the right in Fig. 1 there is shown a male connector housing 12 which stores therein male terminals (not shown) and includes a hood portion 12a. The female connector housing 11 is formed in such a size that allows itself to be inserted into the hood 12a of the male connector housing 12 and includes on the right and left side portions thereof a pair of laterally projecting cam receive pins 13 which respectively correspond to cam receive portions provided in the male connector housing 12 (only one of the cam receive pins 13 is shown in Fig. 1). On the other hand, the male connector housing 12 is formed in a box member which is open at the front surface thereof and includes a pair of guide grooves 15 which are respectively formed on the right and left side portions thereof in such a manner that, when the female connector housing 11 is inserted, the cam receive pins 13 can be inserted into the guide grooves 15. On the right and left side portions of the male connector housing 12, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a pair of lever support shafts 40 (only one of them is shown) is projected sideways, on which a lever means 17 is mounted by means of a support structure (which will be described later). Each of the lever support shafts 40, as shown in Fig. 2, is formed in a cylindrical shape which is provided on and projected from the male connector housing 12 and has an outer portion 48. The length of the lever support straft 40 is so set that the outer portion 48 projects externally of the lever means 17. The lever means 17 is formed in a U-shaped member in which the ends of a pair of right and left lever arm portions 18 are connected to each other at an operation portion 20. Also, the lever means 17 is mounted on the male connector housing 12 in such a manner that the two arm portions 18 respectively straddle the right and left side wall portions of the male connector housing 12. On the back sides (on the male connector housing 12 sides) of the two arm portions 18, there are formed cam grooves 22 corresponding to cam portions and, when the female connector housing 11 is inserted, the cam receive pins 13 are moved into the cam grooves 22 respectively. While the cam receive pins 13 are being inserted in the cam grooves 22, if the lever means 17 is rotated from the disconnected position shown in Fig. 1 to the connected position (the position where the two connector housings are completely fitted with each other) rotated in a direction of an arrow P, then the cam grooves 22 move the female connector housing 11 to the inside of the hood portion 12a of the male connector housing 12 by means of the cam operation thereof to thereby connect the male and female terminals with each other and thus connect the two connector housings with each other. Referring next to the support structure of the lever means 17, the lever means 17 is rotatably supported by means of engagement between the lever support shafts 40 and bearing holes 42. That is, the central portion of the lever support shaft 40, as shown in Fig. 2, is shaved over the whole periphery thereof to thereby form a reduced diameter portion 46. As a result of this, the lever support shaft 40 includes a base portion 43 and the outer portion 48 with the reduced diameter portion 46 between them. The outer portion 48 includes a notch groove 50 which is formed in the diameter direction thereof. The depth of the notch groove 50 is so set that the bottom of the notch groove 50 is level with the outside diameter of the reduced diameter portion 46. A projection 52 acting together with said outer portion and constituting a removal preventive portion (to be described later) is provided in the bearing hole 42 and is inserted through the notch groove 50 and, when the lever means 17 is or the lever arm portions 18 are rotated, respectively, the projection 52 is rotated along the periphery of the reduced diameter portion 46. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the outer portion 48 provides an engaging surface 44 for abuttment of the projection 52 which prevents the lever arm portions 18 of the lever means 17 from being removed. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 3, on the inner peripheral surface 42a of the bearing hole 42, there is provided the projection 52 that projects out toward the axis thereof. The outer end face of the projection 52 is formed level with the surface of the arm portion 18. Also, the width of the projection 52 is set slightly smaller than the width of the reduced diameter portion 46 and the projecting dimension of the projection 52 is set so that the projection 52 can be moved along the peripheral surface of the reduced diameter portion 46. The position of the projection 52 is set such that the projection 52 can pass through the notch groove 50 of the outer portion 48 at the disconnected position of the lever means 17. In the lever-operated connector structured in the above manner, even if the operation portion 20 is flexed due to the operation force applied to the operation portion 20 and thus the arm portions 18 are deformed in a direction to come off outwardly from the lever support shafts 40, there is no possibility that the arm portions 18 can come off the lever support shafts 40 because the movement of the arm portions 18 in the axially outward direction thereof is restricted by the engaging surfaces 44 of the lever support shafts 40. The notch grooves 50 and projections 52 are positioned in such a manner that they can be fitted with each other when the lever means 17 is situated at the disconnected position of the two connector housings. The bearing hole portions 42 can be fitted with the lever support shafts 40 in the following manner: That is, at first, the lever means 17 is opposed to the male connector housing 12 according to the attitude of the male connector housing 12 at the disconnected position of the two connector housings. While the two arm portions 18 are extended out, the notch grooves 50 are fitted over the projections 52 and the lever support shafts 40 are inserted into the bearing holes 42, respectively. As a result of this, the projections 52 respectively project into the reduced diameter portions 46. Next, to connect the two connector housings with each other, the cam receive pins 13 of the female connector housing 11 are passed through the guide grooves 15 of the male connector housing 12 and are then fitted into the cam grooves 22 of the lever means 17 which is situated at the disconnected position shown in Fig. 1. If the thus fitted lever means 17 is rotated in the direction of the arrow P from the disconnected position shown in Fig. 1 to the connected position, then the cam receive pins 13 are guided by the cam grooves 22 and thus the male and female connector housings are connected with each other. In this operation, with the insertion of the female connector housing into the male connector housing, an insertion load is increased and an operation force to be applied to the operation portion 20 is increased in opposition to the increased insertion load. This causes the operation portion 20 of the lever means 17 to be flexed, thereby producing a force to spread the arm portions 18 to both sides or outwardly. However, because the projections 52 are in engagement with the engaging surfaces of the reduced diameter portions 46, even if the arm portions 18 are spread out, the arm portions 18 are prevented from coming off the lever support shafts 40. As has been described above, according to the invention, since there is eliminated the need for provision of the guide walls that are used in the conventional connector, the size of the present connector can be reduced when compared with the conventional connector. Also, because the removal prevention of the lever means 17 can be achieved without increasing the number of parts and the assembling man-hours, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the assembling operation can be executed with more efficiency. Furthermore, the projections 52 are arranged inside the bearing hole portions 42 and are thus protected against flexing, bending or breakage.

Claims: A lever-operated connector comprising: first (12) and second (11) connector housings to be connected with each other; lever means (17) including two cam portions (22), said lever means (17) being rotatably mounted on said first connector housing (12) in such a manner that said lever means (17) straddles said first connector housing (12), wherein: two cam receive portions (13) respectively engageable with said two cam portions of said lever means (17) are provided on said second connector housing (11), and, by rotating said lever means (17) reciprocatingly, said cam receive portions (13) are shifted so as to connect or disconnect said first and second connector housings to and from each other; a pair of lever support shafts (40) are respectively provided on and project from said first connector housing (12); and a pair of bearing hole portions (42) are respectively formed in said lever means (17) and are engageable with said lever support shafts (40); characterized in that removal preventive portions (52) are formed in said bearing hole portions (42) projecting towards the inside of said bearing hole portions (42); and the central portion of each of said lever support shafts (40) is shaved over the whole periphery thereof to form a reduced diameter portion (46) constituting an engaging surface (44) engageable with said removal preventive portion (52) during the reciprocating rotational movement of said lever means (17). The lever-operated connector of claim 1, wherein each of the outer portion of said lever support shafts (40) includes a notch groove (50) which is formed in the diameter direction thereof, wherein the depths of said notch grooves (50) are so set that the bottom of said notch groove (50) is level with the outside diameter of said reduced diameter portion (46), and wherein the length of each of said lever support shafts (40) is so set that the outer portion thereof projects externally of said lever means (17). The lever-operated connector of claim 2, wherein said notch grooves (50) are set so in the outer portion of said lever support shafts (40) that insertion of said removal preventive portions (52) thereinto or removal therefrom is possible at the disconnected position of said lever means (17).

Inventors: KATSUMA TAKATOSHI, KATSUMA,TAKATOSHI, KATSUMA,TAKATOSHI, C/O SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS LTD
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13